Off to See the Wizard
by A.J. Starhiker
Summary: After two unusual intruders appear in the SGC, an unrelated emergency allows NID to take advantage of the distraction.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own or make any money from this project.  Stargate belongs to Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corporation.  X-Men, Excalibur, and related characters belong to Marvel.

* * *

Author's notes:  This starts at the beginning of Season 2 in Stargate, and will be replacing the Soul Sword trilogy in the Excalibur comics.  I didn't like some of the retconning in those issues.  Anyway, the Marvel timelines are so screwed up, I don't mind tweaking the dates to match Stargate's.

* * *

Bare, concrete walls surrounded the large room. Two steel doors stood open on opposite sides. An even larger blast door on the wall between the doors sat raised, revealing windows into a control room. The heavy weapons and half-dozen alert soldiers made it clear the giant, vertical ring facing the control room was not only important, but potentially dangerous. At the moment, the ring was inert, scientists and technicians running tests on the hardware attached to it.

With everyone focused on the ring, when a burst of smoke about ten feet off the ground left two figures hurling into the wall, it took a moment for anyone to react. Even so, alarms started going off before they hit the ground. One figure, a young woman in a tight, blue and yellow outfit, pulled herself to her feet. The way she braced against the wall, holding her free arm tight across her chest, made it clear she'd been injured. The blood on both figures made it difficult to tell which was actually bleeding.

When she saw the soldiers, she pushed off the wall, forcing herself into a defensive stance.

"Kurt?"

When she received no answer, she spared a glance at her companion.

"Kurt!"

She moved so she was between him and the soldiers.

A tall, blond woman in green pants and black shirt pushed to the front.

"He's hurt."

"So are you." The blond turned to one of the soldiers, "Call a medical team. Now."

The blond rushed forward, catching the younger woman as she dropped. One of the soldiers followed her lead in checking the other.

"Stay with me. I'm Sam, who are you?"

"Kitty." She grimaced slightly, trying to relieve the pain from her wounds. "Kurt's human."

Sam glanced over. The other person didn't look anywhere near human, with blue skin and spaded tail, but she decided not to argue the point.

"I think he hit his head."

"The medical team will be here any second." Sam focused on what looked like a bullet wound in Kitty's shoulder. "Janet will kill me if I let you bleed out."

Kitty grimaced, "Don't think I've lost that much yet."

"Out of the way!" Medics rushed through the assembled soldiers, pulling two gurneys.

It was obvious Kitty was worried about their treatment of Kurt. Sam noted with some interest the rapid questioning on their medical histories and expert treatment seemed to help her relax somewhat, rather than increase her wariness.

As the medics rolled out of the Gateroom, Sam looked up to the control room, catching the eye of the general watching everything.


	2. A Meaningful Dialogue

Disclaimer: I don't own or make any money from this project. Stargate belongs to Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corporation. X-Men, Excalibur, and related characters belong to Marvel.

* * *

Author's notes: This starts at the beginning of Season 2 in Stargate, and will be replacing the Soul Sword trilogy in the Excalibur comics. I didn't like some of the retconning in those issues. Anyway, the Marvel timelines are so screwed up, I don't mind tweaking the dates to match Stargate's.

* * *

Dr. Frasier tossed the gloves she'd been wearing into the trash as a guard let her out of the isolation room. She was met outside by General Hammond.

"What have you found?"

"Neither are hosts. The girl passed out while we were taking a bullet out of her left shoulder. There's a grazing injury on the same bicep. She also has a couple bruised ribs and a sprained ankle, probably from landing wrong. Her companion has definite bruising on his head, but fortunately no concussion. Both have other, minor injuries I'd say are consistent for hand-to-hand combat."

"Anything else?"

"Scars. Old ones, most of which look to have been caused by knives or other bladed instruments, although a few looked to have been from an animal of some kind. The male..."

"The girl called him 'Kurt' when they arrived. Sam said she gave her name as 'Kitty'."

"Kurt also had what looked like burn scars."

"Abuse?"

"Possibly, there's something about them that seems familiar." Janet shook her head, "Anyway, preliminary blood work seems to indicate they're both human, although I'm still waiting on the lab for confirmation."

"Both?"

"Yes, sir. I don't know how Kurt became the way he is, but so far, I haven't found evidence of surgery or other tampering."

"Did Kitty say anything?"

"Not really. She was more concerned about what we would do to Kurt. She implied a fear we'd experiment on him. I'm not entirely sure it's unjustified. With your permission, I'd like to keep them in the same room, at least until they've woken up."

"Alright, but I want the guards to stay until we've determined their threat level."

"Yes, sir. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to check on the blood tests."

"Keep me informed."

Janet nodded, moving past him to the elevators.

* * *

Sam knocked on the lab door, attracting the doctor's attention. "Find anything?"

Janet shrugged, "Maybe. I'm still waiting on the genetic tests, but some of the other tests have yielded odd results."

"Actually, I might be able to help with that." Sam held up a small, bright yellow hard case. "They were each carrying one of these. From what I can tell, it's an advanced first-aid kit. There's even what seems to be some kind of diagnostic system."

"You're kidding."

"No, look."

Sam set the pack on a table and undid the latches. In addition to the expected bandages and disinfectants, there were a set of four, color-coded sensor leads.

"Where's the display?"

"Here." Sam pressed a button near the leads and a holographic wire-frame body appeared. Colored points matched the sensors. A voice instructed them to apply them in the indicated locations.

"Wow."

"Yeah. I've already tried it. I think it was able to detect the changes Jolinar left. It identified me as 'human with unidentified alterations'. I had Lt. Simmons try and it came up as baseline."

Janet picked up a plastic package, which turned out to be an inflatable splint, "Have you tried it on Teal'c?"

"Not yet. It couldn't identify the naquada or protein marker in me, so if it doesn't identify him as Jaffa, I think it would be safe to say they don't know about the goa'uld."

Janet nodded, returning the splint and turning the device off. "You said they each had one?"

"The other one is in my lab. The panels seem to have been...bonded somehow. I haven't figured out how to get at the power source or internal circuits yet. At least, not without possibly destroying it."

"I think I'd prefer having a backup in case one goes down."

"That's what I thought. With any luck, though, one of our guests knows how to get inside."

The lab phone rang and Janet picked it up as Sam finished packing the kit.

"Frasier...Thanks, I'll be right there." Janet hung up, "The girl's awake."

"Let's go."

* * *

Kitty shifted uncomfortably as she looked around the room where she'd woken up. There had been a nurse to check on her, but the large observation window and soldiers guarding the only door made her a little nervous. At least they hadn't separated her and Kurt or used restraints.

Her shoulder and chest ached under the bandages and she recalled someone operating to remove the bullet she'd taken. Her good arm had an IV hooked up to a half-empty saline drip. Kitty was less certain of what felt like a splint on her ankle, though. She didn't remember injuring it, but things had blurred during and after the explosion.

The door opened and the two guards moved aside to let in a pair of women. She vaguely recalled the tall, blonde woman had stopped the soldiers from shooting. The shorter brunette reminded her of Moira, an image enhanced by the lab coat, but Kitty didn't recognize her. She hoped the similarities extended past appearances.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Frasier, this is Sam. Can you tell me your name?"

"Kitty."

"How are you feeling?"

"Sore. Tired."

"I'm not surprised. You were exhausted when you arrived. What's the last you remember?"

"There was a fight...an explosion...Kurt and I were trying to get out of there."

"Do you know how you got here?"

Kitty shook her head.

"Can you tell me how you were shot?"

"I didn't ph--I didn't duck fast enough." Kitty saw they'd caught her slip and hoped they wouldn't call her on it.

"Do you know why some one would shoot at you?" Sam asked.

"I can think of plenty of reasons." Kitty answered bitterly. "Most are pretty lousy."

"Does it have something to do with your friend? With how he looks?"

"What do you think?"

Dr. Frasier glanced at Sam before answering, "From the scars I saw, I think you've both had problems."

Kitty ignored the comment, "How's Kurt?"

"He should be fine. He did have a head injury, but no concussion. He's just sleeping."

The young woman relaxed somewhat when she heard that.

"Can you tell me how you got those scars?"

"No."

Sam straightened, "If you're afraid--"

"Are you a medical doctor?"

"No, astrophysics."

"Then it's none of your business."

Sam gave her a sheepish look, "Right. Sorry. Janet, I'll see you later."

"It's alright." Kitty started to wave it off, wincing at the reminder of her wounded shoulder.

The doctor reacted immediately, "How much does it hurt?"

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. Kitty, I took a bullet out of your shoulder, your ribs are bruised, and you have a sprained ankle, not to mention the abrasions, contusions, and lacerations."

Kitty grimaced slightly, "You wouldn't happen to be related to Moira MacTaggert, would you?"

"Who?"

"My doctor."

"I've never heard of anyone by that name."

Kitty frowned, "Are you sure? I mean, I know she's based in Scotland, but she's pretty famous for her work in genetics."

"I'm sorry I'm not sure who you're talking about. Unless you mean Moira Kinross?"

"That was her maiden name. She never changed it back after her husband died, though."

"It must be someone else, then. Dr. Kinross never married."

Kitty frowned slightly. "I suppose."

"Now, what can you tell me about the scars."

"Which ones?"

"Why don't we start with the ones on your back? From what I saw, you're lucky you weren't paralyzed."

Kitty looked away, "It was a long time ago. If complications were going to come up it would've happened by now."

"And the ones on your arms?"

"I'm a martial artist and...and a bit of a trouble magnet."

"Ah." Janet gave her a knowing smile, "One of those. You should find yourself in good company, then."

A groan from the other bed caught their attention.

"Kurt?" Kitty sat up, ignoring her injuries.

Janet fixed her with a look, "You, stay there."

"Katzchen?"

"Over here, Fuzzy." She waved with her good arm. "You conked yourself out when we landed."

"That would explain why it feels like Brian is wrestling the Juggernaut in my head."

Kitty rolled her eyes, "Can't be that bad if you're cracking jokes."

Kurt grinned and turned his attention to charming the doctor, who quickly proved just as immune as Moira. To Kitty's relief, Janet seemed to play along as she did the exam, although she deflected each attempt in a way that suggested experience with similar patients.

With no immediate threat and the painkillers affecting her, Kitty found herself growing tired again. She half heard the doctor saying they could ask the guards to bring food when they got hungry and fell asleep again shortly after.


	3. Tellers of Tales

Chapter 2

Kurt looked up from his borrowed magazine as the doctor came into the room with three others. He recognized the blond woman from Kitty's description but he was less certain of the two men. While both wore blue uniforms, the heavier man's pressed service uniform with general's stars contrasted sharply with the rumpled, untucked shirt the taller man wore over matching pants. No insignia or patches gave away anything else.

He glanced at Kitty. She appeared engrossed in working out equations on a notepad, but Kurt knew her too well to assume she was unaware of their visitors.

"Mr. Wagner, Miss Pryde," the general started, "I'm General Hammond, commander of this facility. I apologize for not coming in earlier, but the doctor insisted on letting you rest."

"And it is not wise to anger the good doctor." Kurt grinned.

"Smart man." The tall man grinned back. "Colonel O'Neill. Just got back from fishing. I hear at least one of you have already met Captain Carter?"

Kitty finally looked up, "Hi, Sam. I think I've got part of the formula worked out, but unless I can figure out how much and what kind of energy went into that explosion--"

"Ah-ah." The Colonel interrupted, "I thought you were supposed to be resting."

"I am."

"You're working."

"Would you prefer pranks?" Kurt asked. "Kitty does not take bed rest well."

"Speak for yourself, Fuzzy. Or do I have to remind you of that time you fell--"

"Katzchen! These people do not need to know about that!"

Hammond stepped in. "People, enough. I need to know how you got into this facility."

Kurt glanced towards Kitty, who shrugged, tapping the notepad

"We do not know," he said.

Kitty picked up the explanation. "The explosion we were caught in probably had something to do with it, but I think we have a bigger problem. I think it sent us crosstime."

"Crosstime."

Kurt frowned at her, "Are you sure?"

"Parallel Earths." She answered the general's question first. "And no, but according the doctor, Moira never married. And you have to admit, we've been treated a lot better here than if it had been the military from our timeline."

"Aren't you treated well there?" Janet frowned.

The pair looked at each other before Kurt answered, "It is...complicated."

"How so?" Hammond asked.

Kitty sighed, "Look, our world is at a...a transition period. People are afraid. It doesn't take much to trigger violent or extreme reactions. And there's always the bastards who try to profit from it."

"What about you? Are you involved?"

"Yes."

"How?"

Kurt answered first, "I was an acrobat until people outside the circus discovered my appearance was not a costume. They believed they needed to rid the world of a demon. I was rescued by a man who wished for peace."

"Miss Pryde?"

"I learned what the cost failing would be."

"What was it?" O'Neill asked.

"Did this world have a Holocaust?"

The silence, broken a moment later by a string of cursing from O'Neill, was all the answer she needed.

Jack paced in Hammond's office wishing there was a goa'uld or a certain NID officer he could shoot.

"She's a _kid_!

"I know."

"I've heard of them, General."

"Where?"

"Comic books, Sir."

"_Comic books_?"

"Is there an echo in here?"

"Colonel..."

"I'm serious, sir. Charlie used to read them."

"What do you know?"

"Not much, but they were part of the title hero group. Kurt's pretty memorable and hard not to recognize. I don't remember much about Kitty, just that she was a kid in the books."

"How would _comic book_ characters appear in the Gateroom?"

"Beats me, that's Carter's department." He picked up one of the photos displayed on the desk. "Although from what I heard earlier, Kitty's pretty smart, too. It'd be interesting to see what she and Carter could come up with."

"Do you believe they are a threat?"

The colonel thought about that, "I think they could become a threat."

"I'll take that under advisement. Just remember, SG-1 is scheduled to go to P3X-382 in two hours. Dismissed."

Jack nodded on his way out.


End file.
